Review of Chef ovens

Chef is a brand that specialises specifically in cooking appliances, providing some of the cheapest ovens around. Despite the low prices, however, its ovens all come equipped with a variety of useful features, so let’s review the entire range and try to offer some guidance of which bring the best bang for your cooking buck.

What ovens does Chef offer?

Chef offers three different types of ovens: Conventional, fan-forced and multi-function ovens. Conventional ovens are those that cook food by surrounding it with hot air, whereas fan-forced (otherwise known as convection ovens) ovens heat the food by evenly spreading hot air all around the oven with an interior fan. Multi-function ovens can do both.

In total, Chef boasts 16 different models. Let’s have a look at their key features, dimensions and price of each one individually to help you determine if they suit your needs and budget.

Conventional ovens

For conventional ovens, Chef has just the two models to choose from. We have compiled a list of the key features of each model, as well as the rough prices, in the table below.

Are Chef conventional ovens worth it?

A glaring weakness with Chef’s range of conventional ovens is the small range. Other brands have a much larger range of conventional ovens to pick from, so your options are fairly limited.

It’s easy to dismiss Chef’s conventional ovens based on their price, but they really do seem to offer great value. Its ovens are not supposed to be anything fancy, as reflected by their relative lack of innovation and features compared to other well established brands, such as Bosch and Miele. Chef’s ovens are there for you to do one thing – cook your food. And they seem to be doing a pretty good job at that, based on the large numbers of positive consumer reviews on Appliances Online and other websites.

The EXC617W model in particular is good value as it’s a double oven, meaning it can cook separate meals at once at different temperatures. Double ovens are usually far more expensive than the meagre $750 this model costs, so if you’re looking for a cheap but efficient oven that covers the basics of meal preparation, then Chef conventional ovens are definitely worth it. Take a closer look at the EXC617W in this video:

Fan-forced ovens

Chef’s range of fan-forced ovens is a little more thorough, with seven different models of this type. We’ve made a list below.

Are Chef fan-forced ovens worth it?

Like the conventional ovens, all of them (except one) in this table are double ovens. Therefore, Chef’s fan-forced ovens are extremely cheap compared to others in the markets. However, its fan-forced ovens lack any sort of advanced features, which is why they are so cheap. If you’re not sure what we mean by ‘advanced features’, check out our review of Blanco ovens to see what kind of innovation a lot of modern ovens come with nowadays.

Simply put, Chef’s ovens are extremely bare bones, and while that was passable for conventional ovens, there is far greater depth available in the category of fan-forced ovens, and the addition of features such as ‘autopilot’ programs mean that cooking is much simpler and easier in these more advanced models. These basic Chef models are likely to be less energy efficient. So if you’re on a tight budget and just need something that can cook food, then by all means consider a Chef fan-forced oven. Otherwise, we can’t say that they are worth the money.

Multi-function ovens

The remaining seven ovens that Chef provides are multi-function ovens, which can perform a range of different cooking tasks.

Are Chef multi-function ovens worth it?

Again, this range of Chef ovens is extremely cheap, cementing their status as a budget-friendly provider of ovens. Its range of multi-purpose ovens represents better value for money than their fan-forced ones, as they are able to perform a variety of different tasks based on the range of functions seen in the table. These functions include modes like grill, defrost, bake and roast as well as fan-forced cooking.

In addition to the different cooking modes, Chef’s multi-purpose ovens focus more on convenience, with the 24 hour timer and self-cleaning modes a welcome addition that will make your life much easier. Many brands now include these modes in their ovens, so it is good to see Chef’s range of multi-function ovens following suit.

If you can afford it, it might still be wise to look to other brands that are slightly more expensive, but these multi-purpose ovens are perfect for oven shoppers on a budget. Definitely worth the money.

About the author of this page

This report was written by Canstar Blue’s Home & Lifestyle Content Lead, Megan Birot. She’s an expert on household appliances, health & beauty products, as well as all things grocery and shopping. When she’s not writing up our research-based ratings reports, Megan spends her time helping consumers make better purchase decisions, whether it’s at the supermarket, other retailers, or online, highlighting the best deals and flagging anything you need to be aware of.

What do customers think about Chef Ovens?

In 2019, Australian customers gave Chef 3 out of 5 stars for overall customer satisfaction for ovens.

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